Dr Foster Guide 2012/13

Dr Foster has informed The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust (TRFT) that the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMR) report for the year April 2012-March 2013 is 106. This is the figure that is expected to be published in the public domain in the Good Hospital Guide. For all of the mortality indices, a rate of 100 is the average ratio and is considered as the national benchmark that Trusts should aim for. The Trusts value of 106 reflects a value slightly higher than average, but is not considered by Dr Foster to be an outlier.

There are several quality indicators used within the NHS. These indicators include a number of measures of mortality, each of which use different methodologies to adjust for issues like the number of diseases patient ‘s have and severity of their illness. These indicators are then used to generate standardised (Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios and Standardised Hospital Morality Index). Because of these adjustments, there are a number of factors that can affect mortality ratios, for example, how we record the number of diseases a patient has, then how we code that data and also how many of our patients are recorded as having palliative care services etc. We, as a Trust have double the national average for coding palliative care due to the fact we have focused our effort in giving patients who are at the end of life the care they need. If we take into account this coding for palliative care then our HSMR would be around the 100 national average mark.

We as a Trust will continue to work with all our stakeholders, staff and patients to ensure we give our patients the best care possible. For more information please visit www.drfoster.co.uk